# The majority of Canadians likely behaved as myopic rationalists rather than success-based learners when deciding on their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine

## TL;DR

Most Canadians acted based on immediate personal benefit rather than learning from others when deciding to get their first COVID-19 vaccine dose.

## Contribution

The paper estimates that 64% of Canadians behaved as myopic rationalists, higher than the U.S., and finds a correlation with average age.

## Key findings

- 64% of Canadians were estimated to be myopic rationalists in vaccine uptake.
- Provinces showed variation, with Prince Edward Island having the highest proportion (74%).
- A strong positive correlation (Pearson-r = 0.71) was found between myopic rationalists and average age.

## Abstract

Successful vaccine promotion communication strategies require knowing how eligible recipients will respond to the opportunity to get vaccinated. Two main classes of recipients are myopic rationalists, those who receive a dose of vaccine only if it maximizes their own instant benefit and if so, do it as soon as possible, and success-based learners, those who learn from others that they perceive to be most successful.

A recent study models these two decision-making types, and estimates the population proportion of myopic rationalists in each U.S. state. In this report, we fit a similar model to data on COVID-19 vaccine uptake across the Canadian provinces and territories.

We estimated that 64% of Canadians behaved as myopic rationalists in taking the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, compared to an estimated 47% in the United States. Among the provinces, the lowest proportion of myopic rationalists was 0.51 in Saskatchewan, while the highest was 0.74 in Prince Edward Island. The correlation analysis suggested a positive correlation between the proportion of myopic rationalists and the average age across the Canadian provinces (Pearson-r = 0.71).

Canadian health management may benefit from these results in tailoring the vaccine promotion communication strategies.